Mass emailing system - dodgy or not?

[Adnams Drinker]

A client has asked us to implement a facility on their website whereby they can send mass emailings to their clients - I assume this is fair enough in practice with people that have filled in a contact form on their site and expressed an interest in their projects?

Ultimately the decision is theirs and they will have to live with the consequences but they have also asked us to include the ability for them to be able to add databases of email addresses that they buy in - correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't buying email addresses for the purposes of mass marketing on very shaky ground legally?

 

[Mark M]

Not that Im aware proving the person whos email address it is hasnt ticked the little box that says "do not send me offers from connected parties"

I think anyway?

 

[Lagz]

Ultimately the decision is theirs and they will have to live with the consequences but they have also asked us to include the ability for them to be able to add databases of email addresses that they buy in - correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't buying email addresses for the purposes of mass marketing on very shaky ground legally?

It depends on where the database of email addresses comes from. If they buy an email database from another company who specified to the users that they might sell their email addresses to third parties, then its not illegal. If on the other hand the addresses were scraped off the internet, then its probably dodgy (although I'm not sure).